Trina Harris Photography

Brooklyn Turned 8

2012-02-10T18:10:00.002-07:00

This is a very stunning little 8 year old, Brooklyn. She is gorgeous inside and out and it was a pleasure to take her pictures documenting a very important stage in an 8 year olds life. In the LDS church, we do our baptisms at 8 years old because that is when we believe a child will be accountable for the choices he or she makes. So in preparation for her baptism her mother contacted me and asked to snap a few shots of this gorgeous young lady. Enjoy :)

Layne Family

2011-12-23T21:23:00.003-07:00

Got together with a wonderful client/family of mine, the Laynes. They are such a pleasure to be around and so much fun to work with. Their little boy is getting so big and so full of energy and life ... something that can be hard on mothers trying to get a family picture but it makes it fun for me as their photographer because he brought so much life and spirit to the shoot :)

A dear friend of mine: Katherine

2011-12-23T15:22:00.002-07:00

Meet my friend Katherine. I just love her guts. Katherine and I have been friends for several years now. While wondering what to get her parents (in particular her mother) for Christmas this year, she thought of the very sweet idea of updated portraits of herself for them. I think that any parent would love this especially if it's been a while since they've had recent photos. I loved how they turned out. She is beautiful and kind. She is one of those friends that is a great listener and talker, she will drop anything for you, she is motivated and completely dedicated.

The Brown Family

2011-12-16T15:57:00.003-07:00

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with my wonderful family in Boise this last year. And while we were there I had the great opportunity to photograph my favorite person in the world, my dad with my step mom Pam and my little sister Mary. I just love them all so much. They are so generous and so real. I love people that are completely themselves and let you be who you are and that's what they do.

Norris & Brenna

2011-12-14T21:22:00.002-07:00

Here is my totally awesome brother Norris with his cute wife Brenna. They called me up asking me to take their family/couple pictures for the holiday season. And I loved that they wanted to get pictures done of just the 2 of them during this stage in their life without kids and stuff. Sometimes I think couples think that it's silly to get family pictures taken when they don't have kids yet but I think that whatever stage of life you are in you should remember it and what better way that through photographs? :)

Nadine Young: Personal Trainer

2011-12-14T21:09:00.003-07:00

This is the gorgeous and very fit Nadine Young. We had a blast created these photos for her booming personal training business. She is very knowledgable about all around health: exercise, diet, attitude, etc. I had so much fun with this shoot. She is such a genuine, wonderful person.

The Faucette Family

2011-12-14T21:00:00.006-07:00

This lovely family asked me to take their photos and it was such a pleasure. Their little girls could not be more adorable! All I have to say is, "Hello eyes!!"

The Little Pumpkin

2011-12-14T20:55:00.003-07:00

Well, playing catch up is a hard thing to do! I am a little behind but better late than never, right? This post is about my beautiful niece Lucy. She turned 6 months right around Halloween so we split the shoot up into a 6 month/Halloween shoot for little Lucy. Enjoy :)

Mother to Be

2011-11-06T20:19:00.003-07:00

I had the great opportunity to catch up with an old friend, Alexis Petterson Terry. There is one word that describes her: beauty. Her beauty comes from the inside out. Not only is she almost intimidatingly gorgeous, but she is one of the nicest people I know. I loved that I was able to document this very important and special time for her as she is growing her first baby :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Lynden

2011-10-22T18:37:00.004-06:00

Meet the adorable Lynden. I am long time friends with her mom and she was kind enough to ask me to snap a few shots of this adorable little 2 year old. I'm a little bit obsessed with her! :)

And ... yes Jen made this bow! Isn't it unbelievable??!

Ms. Sophie's Preschool Class

2011-10-15T16:02:00.003-06:00

My step sister, Sophie, is probably the sweetest and best preschool teacher on the planet. It has been so much fun to live with them for the past few months and see her interact with her students and her children. I tell her all the time that she has more patience that I will ever even hope to acquire. Some people I think are just born with that kind of ability to let things roll as they come. So, anyways here are her class pictures:

Pilates Fitness Shoot with Jessica Fisher Luengo

2011-10-15T15:43:00.005-06:00

I had like the BEST time with this shoot. Jessica is a very very talented celebrity pilates instructor out of Studio City, CA. It was so much fun getting to work with her and see just how in shape you can get from pilates! I've always loved both pilates and yoga but lately have been doing more yoga ... after this shoot, I think I'm back on a pilates kick. She has so much strength and control yet is soft and feminine. It's a hard task to accomplish but Jessica has managed to do it through her brilliant pilates techniques. Here is our shoot:

Carly Marino - Head Shots

2011-09-30T20:37:00.003-06:00

After the fitness shoot we did some head shots of Carly. Isn't she gorgeous?!

Marino Wellness Fitness Shoot

2011-09-30T20:27:00.003-06:00

The beautiful Carly Marino and I had the most wonderful time putting this shoot together. Carly is the founder of Marino Wellness. She is a personal trainer, nutritionist, and everything regarding a person's health. I was honored to have been able to work with Carly. She is a spectacular person. So any of you out there that is looking for a personal trainer, she's your gal :)

What's been goin on

2011-09-13T22:11:00.004-06:00

Well, it's been quite a while since I've done any kind of update personally. So I thought I'd share what's been going on with us Harris's. 1st of all, we are in California for the summer again. We like to spend the winters in Utah and the summers in California. That way not only does Kai get to spend time with his family in sunny CA for an extended period of time but I also get a much needed change of scenery after the long 4 to 5 months of Utah winters. But because my love of all loves, cannot live without skiing, I am glad to spend the cold months in an even colder climate ... it does make for nice and interesting pictures though :) Speaking of pictures, I will give my update through them. This is what we've been up to since June:

Kai LOVING to get dirty!:

Kai playing his favorite sport, playing in the pool and just play play playing:

Lincoln (my nephew) turned 6! Here are some highlights of his bday partaay :)

Here is literally a typical Tuesday evening at the Whitmore (my parent's) home. We are so lucky to live with these people for the summer! We've got the Whitmores, the Dunns and the Harris's all under one roof. We eat a lot of good food and have a whole lot of fun:

Like father like son:

Kai with his 2 favorite cousins Rocky & Lincoln. Sophie had some sweet red hair spray we played with:

Kai got his 1st bike!!!! :

I just really love him :) :

Kai at Laguna Beach. What if we all walked around that curious and that fearless?:

The 2 boys in my life at Carpinteria:

Kai used to be the best eater! He would eat all sorts of veggies and fruits and anything .... ugh .... not so much anymore. Luckily, I can count on him eating spaghetti. At least there is SOMETHING this kid will eat hahahaha. So, I needed to take some pictures of him eating his favorite food as a one year old :)

The Newbold Family

2011-09-13T21:33:00.004-06:00

I loved to be able to spend time with this adorable family, the Newbolds. Jill is a long time friend of mine. She and I lived in the dorms at BYU together and then lived together our sophomore year too. We, I feel, are the type of friends that can pick up where we left of no matter how long it's been since we've talked or seen each other. I love that Jill is always Jill. She is real and she is awesome and will always be that way because that's just who she is :) Love ya girl!

Mr. & Mrs. Watson

2011-08-31T17:25:00.003-06:00

You know those friends that might as well be family? One of those family's is the Watsons. I am just crazy about those people! My mom and Shari (the mother of the house :) ) have been best friends since before I was born. They will always be in my life and people that will be in my heart forever. One of Shari's twin boys, Logan was just married in Utah to a gorgeous girl, Karly. I had the opportunity to take a few shots of this beautiful couple at their open house in California.

Ben & Brittan = MARRIED!

2011-08-23T22:55:00.007-06:00

Here are the pictures from my little sister's wedding. She is so gorgeous and I just love her face! She is wearing my beautiful Augusta Jones wedding gown from Alta Moda which looks so good on her! We did most of the couple shots at a home (that my step-dad, Norris built) a couple days before the wedding. They were married in the Los Angeles Temple on June 11, 2011. Later that day they had a ring ceremony and an open house in my mom and Norris's backyard. It was all just very beautiful and low key ... just like Brittan :)

The Wedding Day!!

The Ring Ceremony

Open House Details

Baby Haven

2011-08-23T22:50:00.002-06:00

My brother and sister in law make the most amazingly beautiful babies! This is my little sweet niece Haven. Ugh I could just eat her up!!

My Family Part 2

2011-08-23T22:48:00.002-06:00

As most of you know, I come from a very large and split family. My previous post were family photos of my mom and step dad's family. And this is of my dad and step mom's family. The last family photo the Brown/West family took was when I was 16 years old ... ummm 11 years ago! A lot of good things came from Brittan and Ben's wedding! :)

My Family

2011-08-23T22:43:00.004-06:00

My little sister got married back in June and we thought it would be an excellent opportunity to take a new family picture. It will probably be our last formal one considering we growing by the minute and everyone is spreading out pretty quickly. But here is the Whitmore/Brown family :)

The Marino Family

2011-07-14T22:11:00.004-06:00

The Marino Family is one of the sweetest most real group of people I know. It was a pleasure to spend time with them taking their family picture. My dearest friend Katie Marino has just recently moved away across the country and was really wanting a new family photo (I think their last one was probably more than 15 years ago). I love this family and I was so happy to do this for such a wonderful friend. I love you Kate!

The Harris Family

2011-06-01T15:29:00.004-06:00

This is the beautiful Harris family. I re-introduce you to Aaron, Cara, Tucker, Hannah and Haven. I can't even stand how gorgeous they are! :)

Easter

2011-05-10T15:11:00.010-06:00

We had a most wonderful Easter a couple of weeks ago. We were able to spend it with my dad this year which was such a treat for us! We had like SO much fun, that that is the only way to describe it. We shopped, we ate a lot, we played a lot, Kai (despite his lack of sleep) was LOVING time with Grandma and Grandpa Brown! Here are some shots of the too short weekend.

Paislee : 12 Month Portraits

2011-05-04T20:57:00.008-06:00

This is little miss Paislee. I am in loooove with this little girl. I just want to pinch her cheeks all day long.

A Baby Blessing

2011-05-04T20:53:00.002-06:00

My sweet little niece was blessed recently and here are some pictures of the beautiful Haven Maddix Harris.

The Ditzler Family

2011-04-11T10:19:00.004-06:00

The Ditzler Family is a wonderful family in my ward. They are the type of people that hug you when they first meet you and then hug you again to say "Goodbye". I love people like that because I want to be that type of person who makes people feel comfortable at first meeting.

So at this shoot, it was a beautiful sunny day with only a few clouds. Then about 30 minutes before we were going to meet the entire sky turns grey and drops like 10 degrees. And before we know it we got ourselves a mini little snow storm. We had to cut our time a little short but were able to get some shots that we loved. I got home and 10 minutes later, I looked outside to see blue skies with the sun shining bright! haha!

My Little Sister Is Getting Married!

2011-04-07T21:57:00.004-06:00

Well, my little sister, Brittan is getting married! This is a very exciting time in our lives for 2 reasons: 1) Brittan is marrying a wonderful, wonderful boy Ben who treats her so sweetly and fits right into the family ... even though he may be smarter than 1/2 of us combined (no offense family hahahaha). And 2) My mom and I get to plan another wedding!!! I . Love . Weddings. I just love the planning of them. I love the flowers, the food, the DRESS, the everything! But Brittan has made this almost a little too easy on us because first of all she doesn't really want anything to do with the planning of it and secondly she wants to spend the least amount of money possible. Brittan was always the more practical one of the 2 of us. Anyways, this is a very fun time. Here are their engagements. I didn't put the one I chose for the invitation because I want it to be a surprise :) (Notice how I chose the picture for their invitation and not them hahaha!)

Grandma's Wedding Dress

2011-02-21T22:51:00.002-07:00

My Grandma and Grandpa recently moved to a smaller house and while packing and going through all of her things she came across a few things that she didn't know what to do with. Luckily, she knows how sentimental I am and has offered me some things that I cherish. One of which is her wedding dress when she married her 1st husband and my biological Grandfather in the 1950's. Below is a sketch that her friend drew of the dress before she made it for her.

Here are some shots that I took of myself in the dress ... sometimes it's hard to find someone to take pictures of me, for me :)

Consecration

2011-02-21T21:39:00.006-07:00

I usually only post things that involve pictures to share but this word has been on my mind for the last couple of days. Consecration: "to set yourself apart from evil, turn to the Lord and be prepared to be used by God"; "a solemn commitment of your life or your time to some cherished purpose"'; "to make or declare to be, sacred." I have been thinking about what it REALLY means to live a consecrated life, like, what actions do you have to take to be able to define your life in that way. This is when I came to know of a woman named Mae Lorraine Bowman Roberts. Here is her simple life story:

Many of us remember Mae, as that bent over dedicated lady walking down South State Street in Provo pulling a wagon with two garbage cans full of aluminum cans. Many of you stopped to give her a ride as she walked in the heat of summer or as she was walking to the Provo Temple hours before daylight in very cold weather. Some of us were fortunate enough to be able to help.

Mae was born in Wisconsin and placed in an orphanage at birth. She was told she had a stroke at birth and for years they did not think she was teachable. Mae said she saw her mother once when she was 9 years old. Her mother was dying in a Tuberculosis Ward at a hospital. She never met her father. She worked in a factory when young and always walked to work even when it was very cold and snowy.

Mae was baptized into the LDS church on May 23, 1973. She moved to Utah in 1976 and celebrated her baptismal date each year by spending the full day in the temple from open to close, and on her birthday would order a steak dinner at Los Hermanos.

Her life was simple - get up - read scriptures - go to the temple - go pick up cans and once every week would bake many loaves of whole wheat bread to last her a week and peanut butter cookies to give to others. She loved being with close friends and children on the holidays, baking and cooking for them.

Mae had a love for music and sang for many years in her church choir. She loved the leaders of her church and enjoyed writing to them and sending them birthday cards. She received several responses from them. Over the years Mae completed many thousands of temple ordinances. Can you imagine the reception she received when she crossed over from mortality, from all who are waiting to say thank you with an embrace, and welcome her home.

Mae made a promise to herself many years ago that if Heavenly Father would help her get out of debt, she would pledge to give $100/ yr to the Primary Children's Medical Center. The very day she made this promise she was able to get out of debt. Her donations have far surpassed what she promised to give. For 22 yrs she accomplished this by collecting thousands of pounds of cans and other metals to recycle and then selling them to metal salvage every year. The entire yearly proceeds were pledged to the Primary Children's' Hospital through the KSL Telethon. In recent years she has been recognized by KSL for her giving during theRadiothon Celebrity Dinner, though she did not like the lime light. One of the last promises she asked was that her pledge be made in her behalf again this year.... when they announce they will match the pledge with a "double" donation.

Thank you Mae for your example of dedication and love.

Born January 28, 1932 - Merrill, Wisconsin

Died February 3, 2011 - Salt Lake City, UT

What Mae's story did not say was that after she was born, she had a stroke and has lived her whole life not being able to walk without dragging her right foot behind her as well as not being able to turn her neck to face forward; her neck was permanently twisted over left shoulder. These conditions did not stop her from walking to the temple every day or pulling her cart full of cans. What a simple and pure life she lived. Her life was to serve in any way that she could. She didn't have a lot of anything as far as possessions go but she dedicated her time to service. And what is really more important than that? Is there anything more important than people? I have been guilty at times to focus so much on my schedule, my routine and just fluff but when it's all said and done, how far does that get me? A consecrated life is a life of service and charity.

1 Corinthians 13:1-4

John 21: 15-17

So, that is a thought of mine as of late. Take it or leave it. :)

"Playing Dress Up" with Mark and Estel

2011-02-17T21:44:00.004-07:00

I recently connected with the lovely Estel Day and it happened in a very exciting way (for those of you who know me and my literal obsession with clothes, you will understand why I think this story is "exciting"). I get this friend add on Facebook from Estel and I recognized her last name because my Grandma Ilene has worked for Jafra Cosmetics for a very long time, ever since Jan and Frank Day founded it. My family and the Day family were close friends and colleagues . I have very few memories of Jan and Frank because they passed away a long time ago. So I sent Estel a message asking her if and how she was related to Jan and this is what she says to me:

"I just saw Ilene today :) I am Jan Day's grandaughter! We must have met each other at some point when we were younger.. I just did an event with Jafra and reconnected with Ilene.. I LOVE your grandmother!! I have a clothing line and Ilene came by my store in Malibu today and said how much my designs fit your style. I told her I wanted to send you some clothes as a gift :) What size are you? And what is your address? I'm sending you some clothes! LOL
So great to connect with you!
xoxo
Estel"

Then, my jaw drops! This kind of stuff never happens to me! So, we got to talking and she has a clothing line called Mark and Estel. They sell their line at a lot of high-end boutiques throughout the country including Intermix, Fred Segal and Madison in LA. So about a week later I get this package in the mail with 3 amazing shirt/dresses in it! I was shocked that she sent me 3 things and so surprised at how well they fit me :) Anyways, to sum up: this was ... so awesome!!! Here are some self portraits that I entitled "Playing Dress Up".

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T15:21:00.003-07:00

I don't know about everyone else, but I am not a big fan of Valentine's Day. I kind of look at it a lot like New Year's : it's a lot of hype for no real big reason. Obviously to show the person you love that you love them is a good reason but why does it have to be on February 14th? Why can't we show love all the time? I have known and do know people that make a huge deal about Valentine's Day and if that's what they're into then more power to 'em but for me, not so much. I DO however, love any excuse to dress up my baby and take pictures of him! Here is the Little Mr. in his 1st tie on his 1st Valentine's Day (I was even able to get my wonderful friend Alli to take some photos of me and my little man ... those are few and far between)

Scentsy Elephant

2011-01-28T13:44:00.004-07:00

My dad is the product developer for the wickless candle company Scentsy. For Christmas, Kai got one of the "Scentsy Buddies" from Grandpa Brown. Although the stuffed animal is for Kai, I find myself holding it when we're watching movies or randomly carrying it around with me because the little guy has these smelly beads in it and it smells .... AMAZING! Anyways, I love this little elephant and I thought I would share it.

Almost 10 Months Old!

2011-01-28T13:36:00.002-07:00

Well, I cannot BELIEVE that Kai is almost 10 months old! Soon, I'll be writing about his 1st birthday party and THAT is crazy to me! Kai is the sweetest little man. It is such a pleasure to be able to be with him every second of the day. Everybody is so right when they say that kids to and say the funniest things, because that is so him. He does the funniest stuff. For example, I will spread a nice, soft blanket out on the ground and say, "Kai this is sooo soft!" and he will crawl over to it as fast as his little knees can go and then face plant as soon as he gets to the blanket with a, "ahhhh ... ahhhhh ... ahhhh" once he lands. hahaha ... I might have to just see it to think it's funny, but just take my word for it.

This is Kai standing up. He's been standing without any help for about a month and a 1/2 now. I don't think Kai knows how to slow down :)

The Layne Family

2011-01-28T13:21:00.005-07:00

I had the opportunity to do family portraits of the Layne family. Kate and Neil have a 4 month old adorable baby boy. And they were a pleasure to get to know and take their pictures.

Kai's 1st Christmas

2011-01-27T21:54:00.004-07:00

I am one of those people who no matter what, I cannot sleep Christmas Eve. I am 27 years old and I still wake up way too early on Christmas morning because ... IT'S CHRISTMAS!!! AHHH! And this Christmas was especially fun because it was Kai's first. He doesn't really get the concept of presents yet but he LOVES to tissue paper and ripping the wrapping paper. It was a lot of fun seeing him have fun Christmas morning. I can only imagine how it will change as the years go on. Here are some pictures of our Christmas season.

Here is Eva obviously not enjoying her Christmas present :)

Kai smiling for Mama

Kai loving his new Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa Brown! It's a school bus ball pit! haha ... he still loves it too.

We went to SLC that night to see all the family that was in town for Christmas and this is a picture of all the grandkids that were in town. We have the Bergener boys, the Dunn boys, the Brown kids, Paislee Brown and Kai. As you can see, Kai was hating life ... Pais wasn't much happier ... they are 2 peas in a pod those 2 ... maybe that's why they are such good friends already :)

Then we went to see the lights at Temple Square. And here is our little chunky Paislee who is 2 months younger than Kai and is definitely bigger :) I just want to eat her up!

Our 1 family Christmas photo

The SLC temple

A successful Christmas ....

Nate + Kai = my 2 loves

2010-12-13T20:58:00.003-07:00

I had my little sister take a few shots for me a week or so ago. It is not that often that I get to be in any of our pictures so this is our attempt at family photos. Kai is getting to be a little less interested in what I want him to do and very much more interested in anything else :) So, we had a good 15 minutes of picture taking before he was just not having it anymore. But for those 15 minutes, Kai looked at the camera most of the time and smiled a lot of the time too! He's so cute. Anyways, some of the photos were taken by Brittan, some by Nate and some by me.

The Brown Family

2010-12-10T22:32:00.003-07:00

I was so excited to be able to take family photos of my brother, Rod, his wife Jenny and their baby girl Paislee because I love them so much and I hardly ever see them. Which is weird because we only are about an hour apart ... anyways, we had a great time and it was wonderful spending time with some of my very favorite people :)

8 Month Old Mr. Magoo

2010-12-06T14:58:00.004-07:00

I cannot believe how fast Kai is growing up! I remember all too well the feelings of being pregnant and of the delivery and it is CRAZY that he is already 8 months old ... I don't know how women have babies close together because it is still waaaaay too fresh in my mind :) Not that it's not worth it, because it totally is, but MAN, I need a lot more time to get the courage to do that again hahaha.

Nate, Kai and I took a little afternoon trip down to SLC a couple of weeks ago and here are just 2 shots that I love of them.

Catching up ... Kai at 7 months part 2

2010-12-06T14:47:00.003-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures of my little man our last week + some days in California.

Nate taught himself how to play the guitar this summer and he is actually very good at it now! I'm so impressed with his diligence, persistence and drive to do something like that all by himself.

This is Kai in Nate's very favorite shoes ... the Jordan's! We are teaching him young because if he wants to be the 1st NBA player in the family then we've got to start him young :)

Here is Nate and Kai on our 1st outing to the beach whilst (a word that I try to use as often as possible :) ) at Newport.

Another beach outing.

Picture time on the grass. One of me and the little Mr. and another of Grandma Tori with him.

Happy Be-lated Halloween!

2010-12-06T14:42:00.003-07:00

We spent Halloween at the Newport Coast Villas this year and it was spectacular! It doesn't get much better than 80 degrees at the beach ... especially at the end of October. We didn't really do anything other than dress Kai up like a leopard :).

Catching Up ... Kai at 7 months

2010-12-06T14:32:00.002-07:00

Here are some photos taken at the Santa Clarita sprint triathlon. A bunch of my family members including, Nate, Mr. Man, Sophie and Rich participated in it so of course, Kai, my mom and I went to be their cheerleaders.

Bag Shoot

2010-12-03T16:15:00.003-07:00

First of all, I need to throw this question out into this great big world ... how does anyone keep up with a blog/website/facebook or anything when you have an 8 month old baby who thinks he's 2??! :) I obviously am horrible at it but here is my slow attempt to try to catch up and post the things that I have been meaning to post.

The first thing that I have been wanting to share was a "bag shoot" that I did with my best friend Katie Marino. I have shot her before but this time was even more impromptu (if that is at all possible) and a lot more fun . I may have mentioned before that Nate, Kai and I were able to spend the summer + some in California at my mom and Mr. Man's house. It was absolutely wonderful being there. And while we were there, my mom and I literally pretended and/or attempted to be Martha Stewart! :) We were cooking every day, going to the Farmer's Market, making fondant cakes, making baby mobiles, sewing shirts, skirts, blankets, bags, etc. So, this shoot was to showcase those bags that we have been making. So, here are some shots :)

Nate

2010-09-17T20:17:00.003-06:00

So, it's no secret that I think that my honey, is the most beautiful person ever created (Kai is a very very very close 2nd). And here are a couple of pictures I took of Nate. We took them to send to the LDS film people because they are looking for people to cast for a new New Testament film that they are making. Would Nate be able to represent the Savior or what?! Nate has the hair, the beard, the nice smile and the kind eyes ... he's perfect :) So, we'll see if we hear back from them or not. In the mean time, I still have the most wonderful person to share my life with.

Kai at 5 months old

2010-09-17T17:18:00.004-06:00

Kai turned 5 months on August 30th. I cannot believe how big he is getting! He is just so much fun, I can't even explain it to you. He is also getting very strong at everything he can do. Not only did he get his 2 front bottom teeth, but he can army crawl super super fast, he can pull him self up onto his knees (like he's getting ready to stand up on his feet or something!), when he's holding onto something he can keep himself standing, he sits up awesomely ... he's just SO big! Anyways, enough bragging. Here are a few shots we took so far this month.

Kai and I

2010-09-17T17:17:00.001-06:00

We have very few pictures together, Kai and I ... here is one that I like.

Drive up PCH

2010-09-17T17:12:00.002-06:00

Nate, Kai and I took a drive up PCH from Malibu to Ventura a couple of weeks ago. I have loved being here in CA this summer! And driving up and down PCH is one of my favorite things to do. I love all the beach towns that you drive through, I love the salty air, I just love everything about Southern California. We found this spot that was absolutely gorgeous so we got out to take a walk around :)

New Los Angeles Temple Visitor's Center

2010-09-17T17:06:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago, my mom, Mr. Man, Nate, Kai and I were able to do down to the LDS LA Temple Visitor's Center and it was really amazing! I would highly recommend any and all people to go and visit it. It's a great, feel-good, family outing :) Below are just a couple shots of a representation of Thorvaldsen's Christus statue.

4 Month old Kai

2010-09-17T17:01:00.004-06:00

Below are my baby's 4 month old pictures. He is so stinking cute, I can hardly stand it. At 4 months, he started scoot-crawling, going in the hot tub, and pretty much smiling and laughing at any and everyone :)

Dusty and Allison

2010-09-16T21:57:00.005-06:00

I had the most wonderful opportunity to be apart of my good friend Allison Liljenquist and her now husband Dusty Hunt, of their wedding day in a very special way. It was so much fun being their photographer and being able to witness first hand, how in love they are.

The Bride and Groom:

Bridal Party:

Details:

Events of the Evening:

Others:

Photos with Grandpa

2010-07-16T21:49:00.002-06:00

My Grandma Ilene (my mom's mom) invited Nate, Kai and I over for dinner the other night and we had so much fun! They just moved into a new house so we were able to see their new place and all the amazing decorations :) I was able to get some cute shots of Kai with Grandpa Tom before we left. I think they're pretty cute.

Swimming!!

2010-07-16T21:43:00.003-06:00

We were able to take Kai out in the hot tub for the 1st time on July 4th and it was SO much fun! He loved it! Here are some pictures of Kai "swimming" :)

Kai Update

2010-07-16T21:24:00.004-06:00

Well, I have been trying to make up for not doing anything with my blog pretty much since Kai has been born which is getting close to 4 months now! So, I'd like to share some pictures of my cute little man since the last time I posted. Most of these shots are from my phone so, a lot of them are blurry but that's okay you can still get the idea :)

5 weeks

6,7 and 8 weeks

9 and 10 weeks

11 weeks

12, 13 and 14 weeks

15 weeks

Buns in the Ovens

2010-07-16T20:01:00.003-06:00

Below are my cousins, Morgan and Gina. They unexpectedly were pregnant at the same time and wanted to take some pictures to remember this time as that it would be the only time that this would happen. Both Morgan and Gina had their babies. Both healthy and both boys. Morgan (the cute girl in the flowered shirt) was pregnant with her 4th baby in these photographs. She is remarkable! She did a home birth with this one and never even wanted to know what she was having! So they were surprised when they had their little boy, who they named him Landon. This was Gina's 1st baby on the other hand. Gina's due date was originally 2 days after mine, April 1st, but she ended up having her little man, Russell on March 29th (the day before Kai was born). And it was funny because I was with my mom when she got the call from my Aunt that Gina had her little boy and I told my mom, "Uh! She's SO lucky! I'm never going to have my baby!!" And the next day, my little Kai came :) So, funny. Anyways, here are some shots from a sister maternity shoot.

Ryan and Tiffany

2010-07-15T14:56:00.002-06:00

Ryan and Tiffany are very sweet couple who are getting married this August in the Salt Lake Temple. Here are the photos from their engagement session. I'm very sad that I will not be able to shoot their wedding because Nate and I are in CA this summer and are unable to make it back up to Utah in time for their wedding. Ryan and Tiffany are so sweet to one another and you can just feel the love they have for each other. I don't think you can miss the love radiating from Ryan's eyes for his lovely bride :)

In-laws

2010-07-15T14:45:00.002-06:00

Here are the lovely Harris's. My in-laws. Nate's brother, Aaron, his wife Cara and their two kids Tucker and Hannah. They are wonderful and so much fun to be around. I really had no idea how smart little kids could get, how exaggerative someone could be, how organized a young mom could be and how much a man could talk about sports until I got to know them a little bit more :) I love them very much. They welcomed me into their family immediately, pretty much right when Nate and I started dating about 5 years ago. I feel very lucky to have them in my life.

Kai - 4 weeks old

2010-04-27T20:35:00.002-06:00

My baby is 4 weeks old today. It is so crazy to me that I have only had him for 4 weeks and at the same time, I can't believe that he is that old! He is just the cutest little thing ever and he changes every second it seems. Here are a few shots I took of him today :)

The Beginning of My Life

2010-04-08T11:16:00.008-06:00

Tuesday, March 30th at 11:51 PM, a beautiful little boy was born ... my beautiful little boy :) His name is Kai Daniel Harris. After the long 40 weeks of pregnancy, it's funny how all the uncomfortable-ness, all the hard times, all the gross times, just disappear. If you are interested in my labor and delivery, read on:

I started getting contractions around 10 PM on Monday, March 29th. I wanted to wait until they got harder and closer together so I waited and waited until around 7 AM when I thought for sure I was going to just die! So, Nate and I left and checked into the hospital. After a few minutes of settling in, the nurse came in to check me and guess what?! I was dilated to a 2!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I thought that that wasn't possible considering how bad these contractions were hurting. The nurse told me, though, that I was about 80% effaced and that that was a good thing. They had me wait there for about 2 hours to watch my progress ... which was very minimal to practically non-existant. In those 2 hours, I dilated 1 more centimeter ... All I could think was "COME ON!" So, they sent me home. Which was fine because then I could break up the time a little bit. Either way, I knew that I was going to be having a baby very soon so, whatever, there was nothing I could do about it. With little complaining, I went home to concentrate on the ridiculous pain I was in! You hear all the time how bad it hurts and how it is excruciating ... But you really do NOT know just how bad it hurts until you do it. I mean, it 100% totally blows! So, I'm at home and it's getting harder and harder. The contractions are definitely getting closer together and harder. It was at the point where if there was anybody even whispering around me when I was having a contraction, I wanted to scream at them to shut up! I gave it a good 5 hours at home before I said, "Alright, I've had enough of this, let's go back." This was at 3 PM.

We got back to the hospital and a new nurse came in (who was probably one of the nicest nurses ever, I'll tell you why in a sec), she checked me and said I was dilated a little more than a 3 and about 90% effaced. I just didn't get it because the pain, the awful awful pain was just so bad! ... I guess I'm just a wuss! The nurse wanted to check me again in another hour and I made a little bit of progress so she went to go tell the doctor and see what he wanted me to do, either go home again or stay and "help me" move this process on a little faster. Come to find, the nurse talked the doctor into letting me stay!! What a wonderful person she is! She walked in with all my IV stuff and checking-in crap and she told me that the anesthesiologist would be in within 45 minutes to give me my epidural ... YAY!!! This was exactly what I wanted to hear. The Medicine Man walked in gave me my shot (which did not hurt, I don't know why people think that epidurals hurt when they just don't), told me it would take about 10 minutes to set in. And in 10 minutes it did set in ... on the left side of me at least. Doctor came in around that 10 minute mark also and broke my water. So for the next hour and a half I sat through those horrendous contractions just attacking my right side. Medicine Man finally came in and gave me another dose. That one didn't work either. 45 minutes later he came in again with a slow drip IV and another full dose. This did the trick! YAY! No more pain! I had these crazy body shakes but that's no big deal. The nurse checked me again around 8:30 PM and I was at a 6. I just thought that I was never going to be able to have my baby at this rate. By 10 PM, I had a whole crowd of people out in the hallway waiting for this sweet little Baby Harris. Nate's parents were out there, my dad, Pam and little sister Mary drove all the way from Boise to be there, and my sister Brittan. My good friend Alli Miles (a photographer that I have done shoots with) was in the room with my mom, Nate and I taking "Birth Story" pictures. I had so much support around me that it was really overwhelming. So many people were there for Nate and I and at such a late hour and for such a long time! I am so grateful for them all.

Anyways, the nurse checked me again at 9:45 or 10 and I was ready to go! I was at a 10 and 100% effaced! Then I started to get nervous. I didn't know what to expect, you know? Would I know how to push? Would the baby be alright? Will my body just totally break? So, Doctor and nurse came in together and told me that the doctor had to leave to go do a c-section and that I would start the pushing process with my nurse. That didn't bother me like it should have but there I was starting to push and I pushed for 20 minutes when the nurse told me to stop because the baby would probably come out if I continued to push. My baby's heart rate was beginning to drop so I was given the lovely oxygen mask (I think I would like just using that thing all the time! It's so ... refreshing, all that oxygen. It also helped with my nausea). Then about 30 or 40 minutes later, the doctor came back and I pushed another 20 minutes and holy cow! There was Kai! The most bizarre feeling in the entire world is feeling someone take a person out of your body! haha ... I literally felt my stomach collapse and immediately had this intense sense of emptiness. I could feel each of Kai's body parts leave me and if I had looked at my stomach, I bet I could see my stomach flatten like a wave as Kai was being pulled out! That may be a little graphic but I don't ever want to forget just how weird that was for me. Anyways, Kai popped right out being posterior and everything! The first thing I said was, "He looks like Nate!" and the second thing was, "What's wrong with his head?!" Because he came out face up, he had this Frankenstein forehead but that went down within like an hour.

So they cleaned him all up and then I got to hold my sweet little man. How crazy is it that you can grow a person inside another person? Is it weird to anyone else that people are allowed to make people? This whole experience has just been so amazingly spectacular. My baby is 3 weeks old now and he changes every day. It's pretty amazing.

I want to express my deep love for my husband. I know he doesn't read my blog but this blog is mostly just for me anyways. I am so grateful for Nate and his amazing support throughout my pregnancy and delivery. He was the perfect support for me and all I can think of is my favorite line that I have ever heard: "You have bewitched me body and soul and I love, I love, I love you." (Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice)

I also want to express my gratitude and love for my mom. She was able to be here with me for an entire month! She arrived in Utah exactly one week before Kai was born and stayed until he was 3 weeks old. She cleaned, cooked, did my laundry, grocery shopped, ran my errands, and basically did everything for me so I could bond with my baby. She was patient with my never ending questions and even worse, my never ending obsessive compulsive concerns for the health of Kai (I was always assuming something was wrong). My mom was always there to tell me how "normal" everything I was thinking and feeling was and how everything with Kai was so normal ... even his little bit of jaundice :). Basically, my mom was my own personal Super Woman. So, mom, if you read this, I love you very much and I will always remember this past month that we've been able to have with each other. The words "thank you" are just not enough for all that you have done for me, Nate and Kai. But until I know how to thank you in a much better way, those words are going to have to do :) Thank you Thank you Thank you Mom.

Here are a few of the photos taken by Alli S Miles. You can see the whole shoot on her website and blog.